Toppesfield Vineyard: Award-Winning English Wines from the Heart of Essex
A Boutique Vineyard with Ancient Roots
Nestled in the rolling hills of north Essex, a stone's throw from the picture-postcard villages of Finchingfield and Castle Hedingham, Toppesfield Vineyard is a small but ambitious boutique estate run by Jane and Peter Moore. The couple's weekday careers are spent in busy professional lives, but every weekend finds them back among the vines, doing what they love: producing fine English wines on land that, in many ways, was always destined for the purpose.
As the Moores explain, the valley around Toppesfield was heavily planted with vines in Roman times. That long-buried heritage was confirmed in the nineteenth century when the remains of a Roman centurion, complete with sword blade, metal wine vase and small cups, were unearthed in the very field that today makes up the vineyard. With that discovery in mind, Jane and Peter took the opportunity in the winter of 2011 to buy the agricultural land next to their home, and began marking out the ground for the vineyard in the winter of 2012. Their very first vintage, in 2016, won Wine of the Year and a Gold Medal in the Wine GB Eastern region - an extraordinary launch that has been the foundation for everything that has followed.
Location, Terroir and Grape Varieties
Toppesfield sits in one of the driest, sunniest corners of England. The underlying soil is a fertile chalk subsoil overlain by a clay loam - a combination that suits cool-climate viticulture remarkably well. Easterly and westerly winds blow through the rows, providing natural air circulation that keeps disease pressure down, while the high sunshine levels of East Anglia give the grapes reliable ripeness even in marginal seasons. Together, these factors create an ideal growing environment for the varieties that have been planted.
After taking advice from McNeill Vineyard Management Ltd (MVM) on the best site and grape varieties for their particular location and soil type, the Moores chose two workhorses of the English still and sparkling wine scene:
- Bacchus - a cool-climate white grape that has proven very successful in East Anglia's dry and sunny climate. Hints of gooseberry and elderflower give Toppesfield's white wines their characteristically English hedgerow character.
- Pinot Noir Précoce - an early-ripening red clone that, in this part of the world, makes excellent rosé rather than a heavyweight red.
Together they form a tight, focused range that places quality above volume - very much in keeping with the boutique ethos of the estate.
The Wines
Toppesfield's cellar currently produces four wines, all available to buy directly from the wine shop or by appointment from the Cellar Door. There is a minimum order of six bottles for online purchases (mixed cases are allowed), and a £8.00 courier charge covers a six-bottle box within mainland England and the Scottish Lowlands, with free delivery on orders of 24 bottles or more.
Bacchus Reserve 2023 - £18.00
The estate's signature still white is a crisp, dry, fruity wine with flavours of gooseberry, nettle and elderflower. It has a refreshing finish and excellent length, and pairs particularly well with seafood, shellfish, chicken, Thai curry, risotto and fresh summer salads. Alcohol sits at around 11%. Buy Bacchus Reserve 2023.
Toppesfield Rosé 2023 - £18.00
Made from Pinot Noir Précoce, this is a dry, Provençal-style rosé with hints of English strawberries and citrus. Pale pink in the glass, with a refreshing finish, it is described on the label as extremely drinkable on a warm summer's day - with or without food. Try it with rare lamb, grilled squid, anything from the BBQ, fresh citrusy dishes or soft creamy cheeses. Alcohol is also around 11%. Buy Toppesfield Rosé 2023.
Classic Brut - £26.00
The estate's traditional-method sparkling white, with crisp apple and red-berry notes on the palate and tiny, well-formed bubbles. Made in the classic Champagne style, it has been a consistent award winner for the estate. Buy Classic Brut.
Sparkling Rosé Brut - £30.00
A traditional-method sparkling rosé with delicate flavours of summer berries and a delicious creaminess. Pale and Provençal in colour, with tiny well-formed bubbles, this is the top-of-the-range bottle from the Toppesfield cellar. Buy Sparkling Rosé Brut.
A Trail of Awards
Toppesfield's wines have been collecting trophies since that first 2016 vintage. In addition to a Wine of the Year and Gold Medal at their debut, the estate has gone on to take Wine of the Year in East Anglia three times, and Gold Medals for four vintages. The team credits much of this success to the consultant guidance of Duncan McNeill in their start-up years, and to a deliberate early focus on root development - an investment that has paid back year after year in consistently high-quality fruit.
More recent highlights include the 2022 Wine GB East Competition, where Toppesfield won a Silver Award for the Bacchus, a Gold Medal for the Pinot Rosé, and the headline prize of Rosé Wine of the Year for the Eastern Region. The range of regional, national and international awards on the estate's trophy shelf continues to grow.
Luxury Accommodation at the Wine Centre
A stay at Toppesfield is rather more than just a vineyard visit. Sitting three metres from the edge of the vines is the Toppesfield Wine Centre, a contemporary Scandi-style "eco" villa with a giant picture window that frames the vineyard in style. The open-plan lounge and dining area opens through full-height glass sliding doors onto a private guest garden with sun loungers, comfy sofas, a Webber BBQ and a Morso pizza oven, plus a nickel bar reminiscent of The Ivy that looks straight out over the rows.
Upstairs, two luxury bedrooms with superking-size beds and en-suite bathrooms each enjoy vineyard views, while downstairs there is a small but fully equipped kitchen. Tech is generously provided: Alexa controls throughout, 300 Mbps fibre broadband, a 75" Sky Q / Netflix TV, and Sonos with Spotify. Outside, guests can play on the private tennis court, soak in the four-person jacuzzi, or simply enjoy the peace and quiet of the surrounding countryside and pond.
The fridges are stocked with Toppesfield's award-winning white, rosé and sparkling wines, and there is a meet and greet service on arrival to walk guests through the property's technology. Private, exclusive tours and tastings can also be arranged for guests at £25 per head, including still wines and canapés.
The Times named Toppesfield one of the UK's top vineyards with rooms, describing the property as ideal for two-to-four adults looking to share stunning luxury accommodation and "a lifestyle akin to that of the celebrity winemakers Cliff Richard and Kylie Minogue, gazing across the vines from the nickel bar, sipping bubbles in the hot tub or playing tennis on the private court (not necessarily in that order)".
Two nights' self-catering starts from £480.00 for two and from £880.00 for four, with listings available via Airbnb (two-person), Airbnb (four-person), and Plum Guide. For larger groups, the Wine Centre can also be booked on a "Dry Hire" basis, with the team happy to put together a customised package.
Vineyard Tours and Tastings
Tutored tastings and vineyard tours are available at £25 per head, including tastings of Toppesfield's three award-winning wines: the Sparkling Classic Brut, the dry white Bacchus and the dry Pinot Noir rosé. Spittoons can be provided for anyone who needs to drive, and the team is happy to recommend local taxi firms to the nearest railway station.
For guests staying in the Wine Centre, an additional private, exclusive tour and tasting can be arranged at £25 per head (including still wines and canapés) - perfect for a celebratory weekend with family or friends.
Corporate Days
Looking for an inspiring venue for a board meeting, away day or team-building session? Toppesfield's bright and contemporary space, with its fantastic natural light and peaceful surroundings, is designed to help creative juices flow. The meeting table comfortably seats ten people, with break-time options that include a wander through the vineyard, a game of boules or croquet, or even a mini tennis tournament on the private court.
Local caterers can provide breakfast and lunch, and at the end of the business day the team can lead a vineyard tour and tutored tasting of Toppesfield's award-winning wines.
- Day rate: £850 per day, Monday - Thursday, 9.30am - 4pm.
- Vineyard tours: £25 per head (tastings of the Classic Brut, Bacchus and Pinot Noir rosé included).
- Spittoons provided for drivers; taxis to the nearest station can be recommended.
Film Shoots and Private Hire
Toppesfield Vineyard is also available as a location for film shoots. Alongside the contemporary Scandi villa and vineyard sits a traditional hall house (built in 1395), not available for hire itself but offering extensive grounds including an outdoor pool, topiary garden, small lake, tennis court and wooded area. The villa, garden and vineyard can be hired together or separately, and there is even a helicopter landing pad adjoining the vineyard. Past shoots have included high-end pool and garden furniture, food demonstrations, wellbeing and lifestyle products, and contemporary interior brands. Prices are on application.
Art, Culture and Michael Ayrton
Toppesfield Vineyard is also a place of significant cultural heritage. The estate sits on the site of Bradfields, an old manor house that was home from 1951 to 1975 to Michael Ayrton - the famous neo-romantic artist, sculptor and writer who was a close friend and contemporary of Henry Moore. Ayrton's work explored Greek myths, particularly the Minotaur, Daedalus and Icarus, and produced powerful Minotaur and maze sculptures, drawings and etchings. One of his greatest personal triumphs, the Arkville Minotaur, was sculpted in the Tudor barn at Bradfields and now stands in London Wall Place in the City of London.
Although bringing the original Minotaur back to Bradfields proved prohibitively expensive, the team worked with local craftspeople to transpose a photograph of the sculpture onto a contemporary acrylic display that now has pride of place in the luxury guest accommodation. They also worked closely with the Fry Art Gallery in Saffron Walden and with Ayrton's step-granddaughter and biographer Justine Hopkins to compile an extensive photographic collection of his work. To mark his centenary in 2021, Hopkins published Michael Ayrton Centenary: Ideas, Images, Reflections and launched an online archive at michaelayrton.com celebrating his life and work.
Justine Hopkins has noted that Ayrton himself was a bon-viveur with a well-stocked wine cellar, and that he would have been delighted that Bradfields' latest chapter is an award-winning vineyard with luxury accommodation. As she puts it, the estate now offers guests the chance to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of Toppesfield while only an hour or so from the bustle of London.
The Toppesfield Sculpture & Wine Festival
Each year the vineyard and the grounds of Bradfields host a major cultural event: the Toppesfield Sculpture & Wine Festival, held in conjunction with High Roding Art. Six prestigious sculptors are invited to showcase their work among the vines, with two of the exhibiting artists sharing a direct connection to Henry Moore.
The festival is structured over three days, with three ticket options:
- Charity Night (Friday, adults only), 7pm - 10pm - raising funds for Essex-based charity Kids Inspire. The ticket includes the first glass of wine and a selection of canapés; additional drinks are available from the vineyard bar.
- Saturday, 12 noon - 6pm - a leisurely afternoon exploring the sculptures, with children's sculpture workshops, lunch and afternoon tea from the Watering Place Café at Gainsborough's House, and Toppesfield wines by the glass or bottle.
- Sunday, 12 noon - 6pm - the same relaxed format as Saturday.
Tickets are sold through TicketSource, with a percentage of Friday evening ticket and sculpture sales supporting Kids Inspire.
The Village and the Community
Toppesfield itself is a remarkable place. With a population of just 500, the village has won the Essex Village of the Year competition, with judges praising the "huge amount" of community facilities and locally managed events in such a small settlement. The general feeling, they noted, was one of "inclusiveness and altruism. It is a vibrant and remarkably enterprising community with a real flair for finding solutions to local issues".
Among its achievements, the community owns the Green Man pub, the village shop and post office, and a community microbrewery that supplies local pubs with Toppesfield-brewed beer. Every harvest, around fifty villagers - the "Toppesfield Pickers" - join friends and family to pick the vineyard's grapes in return for homemade cakes mid-morning, a traditional harvest lunch and a few well-earned glasses of Bacchus or Pinot Rosé once the picking is done.
Press Coverage and Recognition
Toppesfield's growing profile has seen the estate featured in a string of national and international publications. Highlights include:
- The Times - named the vineyard one of the UK's top vineyards with rooms in June 2023.
- Beau Monde Traveler - American travel writer Glenn Harris stayed at the vineyard in 2024 and featured it in the Beau Monde Luxury Travel guide, alongside Brad Pitt's Château Miraval and Sam Neill's Two Paddocks Vineyard.
- Living Magazine - featured the estate in May 2022 alongside respected Sussex vineyards Tinwood and Bolney.
- The Sunday Times - featured Toppesfield's wines, with the accolade still highlighted in the estate's social media bio.
- Travel begins at 40 - the BBC's former Today assistant editor Roger Hermiston and former Reuters / Economist PR head Eileen Wise reviewed the luxury villa in 2022.
- Elizabeth Rose Wines - selected the Toppesfield Pinot Rosé as the English wine to compare with the celebrity favourite Whispering Angel on National Rosé Day 2020.
Where to Buy Toppesfield Wines
The wines are available directly from the Toppesfield wine shop (minimum 6 bottles online) and, by appointment, from the Cellar Door. A wide range of independent stockists also carry the range, including:
- Toppesfield Stores, 1 Church Lane, Toppesfield, Halstead, Essex CO9 4DR (01787 823600)
- Finchingfield Stores, Bardfield Road, Finchingfield, Essex CM7 4LS (01371 810310)
- Deersbrook Farm, Shalford Green, Braintree CM7 5AZ (01371 851271)
- Poplar Nurseries, Coggeshall Road, Colchester CO6 1HR (01206 210374)
- Linsell's of Felsted, Station Rd, Felsted, Dunmow CM6 3DG (01371 820255)
- Van Hage, Pepper Hill, Great Amwell, Herts SG12 9RP (01920 870811)
- Stamford Garden Centre, Casterton Road, Stamford PE9 4BB (01780 765656)
- Gainsborough's House Shop, 46 Gainsborough Street, Sudbury CO10 2EU (01787 372958)
- Guildhall Stores, 34 Town Street, Thaxted CM6 2LA (01371 830212)
- Nethergate, 46 Gainsborough Street, Sudbury CO10 2EU (01787 377087)
The estate also supplies a wide range of hotels, restaurants and pubs across the whole of the UK.
Plan Your Visit
Whether drawn by the wines, the Scandi villa, the sculpture festival, or simply a quiet afternoon walking the rows, Toppesfield Vineyard offers a uniquely English experience in a setting that has been making wine for two thousand years.
- Address: Toppesfield Vineyard, Bradfields, Harrow Hill, Toppesfield, Halstead, Essex, CO9 4LX
- Telephone: 07768 817573
- Shop: toppesfieldvineyard.co.uk/shop
- Social: follow the vineyard on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for harvest news, awards updates and event announcements.